NEW YORK—She dedicated herself to repainting the graffiti-laden corner mailboxes in Hell’s Kitchen and watering the flowers of an abandoned lot on West 34th Street. Alice Parsekian had been looking over the West 34th Street plot for over 20 years, turning it into a garden.
The community has come together to carry on her work, and, two years after her death at age 86, a public park bearing her name has opened.
Alice’s Garden, a quaint lot of greenery above the Lincoln Tunnel owned by The Port Authority, is currently managed by the Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood Association (HKNA) and Clinton Housing Development Company (CHD).
The garden is directly across the street from where Parsekian used to live. The park is dedicated to her memory, and all the work she did for the neighborhood for 50 years. “There is no one to replace her,” said Marge Broderick, 75, a volunteer at Alice’s Garden.
“She painted mailboxes for 10 blocks in each direction,” Broderick recalled. “She was always checking on new graffiti or a piece of litter.” Broderick lives in the same building that Parsekian resided in.
The neighbors didn’t want the garden to go to waste after Alice’s passing. They began volunteering in 2010 to maintain and renovate Alice’s Garden into a community park. The garden opened its gates to the public on Sept.24.
“This is a beautiful oasis in the middle of New York City,” said Sen. Tom Duane at the opening ceremony. “We did it for Alice, we did it for all of us.”
The winding, bucolic path of flowers, tomatoes, and eggplants did not come easy. The volunteers transformed the original straight walkway into a meandering, brick path with the bricks donated from Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project.
“She left a great mark and impression on all of us,” said Rob Marchesani, a volunteer at Alice’s Garden. He said Parsekian inspired the neighbors to remake the one-woman garden into an extravagant community park. “It’s a great transformation. It feels like you’re in the East or West Village now.”
The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.
